Largest scale WiFi deployment in Eastern Europe

Company

Poland’s Polskie Koleje Państwowe (PKP) Intercity (IC) is a subsidiary of PKP Group responsible for long-distance passenger transport. It runs approximately 350 trains daily, connecting large and small towns across Poland. The company also provides international trains to and from Poland and is one from the biggest transport providers in Europe. PKP IC was founded in 2001 after splitting into several companies to meet European Union Standards.

Challenges

The scale of this project is significant. It is one of the largest on-board connectivity deployments in Central and Eastern Europe, and represents a significant investment to deliver an improved passenger experience for PKP’s customers. A complex delivery such as this has required close collaboration with the customer to work out agreed delivery phases to avoid downtime of fleet.

Roughly 300 carriages have been installed with Nomad’s WiFi connectivity solution and entertainment on media server, through an innovative partnership with T-Mobile – working in partnership to provide up to 700GB of off-line media content and the fastest possible WiFi connectivity for the passengers.

The delivery of this solution has been complex due to dealing with variable consists, moving from one set to another with the required flexibility in the system to adapt to these challenges. Through the creation of a good working relationship with PKP IC and T-mobile Poland (one of Poland’s leading mobile operators), the partnership could creatively face challenges together.

Solution

Over the past two years this innovative connectivity solution has brought an enhanced journey experience to PKP’s passengers. Currently further updates on content and media are being rolled out.

This partnership demonstrates the first implementation of an IT solution for PKP who had little experience of IP solutions being actively implemented on their moving trains. Nomad has supported the customer through our service level agreement over the past two years on a daily basis providing a support framework and engineering expertise to rectify technical issues and quickly resolve them.

PKP benefit from an open connectivity infrastructure and leading router technology. Nomad’s hardware creates a technological framework whereby the media content is integrated onto the on-board infrastructure at depots, independent of internet connection. The solution being rolled out provides passengers with uninhibited direct access to a vast selection of high-definition, DRM-protected streamed video content. The integration of the server architecture creates a reliable, solid-state, high-capacity platform which utilises state-of-the-art modem technology to provide a fast service capable of multiple applications, enhancing the passenger experience.

Implementation

Nomad Digital has been responsible for the design, development and installation of the project in a partnership with major European stakeholders - PKP IC and T-mobile Poland. The business model has demonstrated Nomad’s ability to innovatively partner with a leading mobile carrier.

The PKP IC deployment was delivered and is managed by local team supported by central expertise from Nomad’s HQ in Newcastle.

Results

This is the largest scale WiFi deployment in Eastern Europe. The new on-board system delivers a secure, consistent wireless broadband connectivity, and provides PKP IC’s passengers with seamless internet usage while travelling throughout Poland, Austria, Germany, Czech Republic, Hungary, Ukraine and Russia. It guarantees access to the internet and provides the capacity to host the latest multi-media content for passengers during long international trips to Vienna, Amsterdam, Berlin, Praha, Kiev, Minsk or Moscow. PKP IC connects all main Polish cities including Warsaw, Lodz, Krakow, Gdansk, Gdynia, Katowice and Poznan.

The final phase of the project, which provides passengers with access to off-line entertainment services and multi-media content, is in the process of completion.